Tuesday, December 12, 2006

 

Flames Game Day


The Flames host the Minnesota Wild tonight at the 'Dome, and will be aiming for their record 10th consecutive home win (7PM MT, RSN West). Above (click to enlarge) is three different expressions of the Northwest Division standings, which I don't imagine need too much in the way of explanation. The left is the real standings; the centre shows all shootout results as ties; and the right shows all regulation ties as ties.


For all three, W% is % of possible points earned. The fourth table here at the left is the same as the third, but with W% shown simply as Wins/GP. I don't begrudge Minnesota their success in extra time at all, but it is interesting, and it's also hard to believe that this pace (in OT/SO) is sustainable, the Rolston Rocket notwithstanding.

Last note on this topic: you see how in Table #3, there's a 10.2% gap between EDM and COL? There's actually no other team in the conference in that gap either; ranking the whole conference in the same way, CGY is 6th, EDM is 7th, and COL is 8th.

Injuries are a big wild card (as are trades), and sometimes teams simply improve (or start to suck). But what it looks like right now is that there are 7 Western Conference teams (including the Flames and Oilers) that are perceptibly better than the other 8 (including the Wild). I know it's easy (everybody's doing it!) to predict that the NW Division will stay tight all season, but I just don't see it. It looks to me like there are 7 at the top, 7 at the bottom, and the Wild -- who will either improve their regulation play with the returns of Demitra and (eventually) Gaborik and thus join the top group, or they will not... in other words, I don't see a dogfight in April for the bottom few seeds in the WC; I see either a fight for 8th, or all teams mathematically clinching their spots with a week or so left in the sked.

Of course, after all that, I know where tonight's game is going. There's a regrettably, but considerable, likelihood that most of the Flames have mentally already headed out on their 6-game road trip; yes folks, it's a Classic Trap GameTM!!! Call it anti-karma, but I'm picking a disgusting, boring, agonizing, frustrating, 2-0 Calgary loss. I really hope I'm wrong, i.e., Go Flames.

Postscript: sometimes I miss Darryl Sutter's grunting. The Herald game preview has a quote from Coach Playfair that sounds like it was ripped out of a Dilbert cartoon:
"It's not about looking at the bottom end and saying we're this close to not being there. It's about pushing ourselves to make a push for first place. And doing it right away."

Who is responsible for discouraging Jim Playfair from speaking English? I want answers.

AH-NUTS-TO-THAT UPDATE, 130PM: I see that Warrener and Zyuzin are both out for tonight's game, and Yelle/Nilson are still out, meaning Richie Regehr, Mark Giordano, and Tomi Maki are all in the lineup. They might lose, but none of the veterans are thinking cakewalk now -- no Trap Game. I'm changing my prediction to call for a statistically-most-probable 3-1 Win. Hah! And, Go Flames.

Comments:

...a disgusting, boring, agonizing, frustrating, 2-0 Calgary loss.

My neighbour gave me tickets to the game tonight. I was fairly excited, until I realized we were playing the Wild...
 


I think whoever is discouraging Jim Playfair from speaking English is also the same person who is advising him on wearing ill-fitting suits and keeping that outdated hair style. I want answers on that one.
 


I think whoever is discouraging Jim Playfair from speaking English is also the same person who is advising him on wearing ill-fitting suits and keeping that outdated hair style. I want answers on that one.

Presumably, it's the same guy who did that for Sutter.

MacT on the other hand? Impeccably dressed, witty, can use multi-syllabic words and - fittingly, given the teams that they coach - has four more Stanley Cup rings.
 


MacT on the other hand? Impeccably dressed, witty, can use multi-syllabic words.

Sounds like a serious crush you got going there MC. Did you type this comment with one hand?
 


Take it easy, Metrognome, you'll see some offense. Despite Gaborik's groin not being in attendance, they'll score some goals.
 


...they'll score some goals.

You mean the Flames. Right?
 


reminds me of my favorite hockey malaprop/freudian slippage by Vancouver Canuck colour guy, Tom Larschied commenting on the health status of then Canuck star Pavel Bure: "Jim, I've talked to Pavel, and let me assure you, his groin feels fine" !!
 


"Impeccably dressed, witty, can use multi-syllabic words... "

That sounds like Reggie Dunlop - "You know, your son looks like a fag to me. You better get married again 'cause he's gonna wind up with somebody's cock in his mouth before you can say 'Jack Robinson'."

There's at least 3 or 4 multi-syllable words in there.
 


"I couldn't count more than 2. Better luck next time"


"multi-" ; combining form more than one; many http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/multi?view=uk

As in "multi-goal game"... more than one.
 


As in Iginla having another multi-goal game.
 


Another great night for hockey -- the Flames gain another game on the 2 division leaders, continue to out-Vaunt the Vaunt and are only an 11 round shoot-out loss from sharing the division lead (with 2 games in hand). The only unhappy part is one of Minnesota and Edmonton has to win on Thursday, so we won't be able to claim top spot until after we smoke Phoenix on Saturday night.

And I suppose MacT's erudition is indisputable: "spastic" and "retarded" are both multi-syllabic words for sure.
 


And witty! Don't forget witty, Peter.
 

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